Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) Upgraded at Benchmark

Benchmark upgraded shares of Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

ANDE has been the topic of a number of other reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Andersons in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Andersons from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $50.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $62.50.

Andersons Trading Up 1.7%

NASDAQ:ANDE opened at $66.86 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $2.26 billion, a PE ratio of 31.24 and a beta of 0.77. The business’s 50 day moving average is $56.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Andersons has a 52 week low of $31.03 and a 52 week high of $67.46.

Andersons Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 2nd were given a $0.20 dividend. This is a positive change from Andersons’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 2nd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Andersons’s payout ratio is currently 37.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Andersons news, Director John T. Stout, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of Andersons stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.00, for a total transaction of $275,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 25,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,426,755. The trade was a 16.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Anne G. Rex sold 3,000 shares of Andersons stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.36, for a total transaction of $154,080.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 23,549 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,209,476.64. This represents a 11.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 20,500 shares of company stock worth $1,076,205. Corporate insiders own 4.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Andersons

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ANDE. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Andersons during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Optima Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Andersons in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Andersons by 33,600.0% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 1,008 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Andersons by 34.8% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,266 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 327 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in Andersons by 227.9% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,954 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $109,000 after acquiring an additional 2,053 shares in the last quarter. 87.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Andersons

The Andersons, Inc operates as a diversified agriculture company offering a broad range of products and services to farmers, retailers and industrial customers. Through its Grain Group, the company purchases, stores, merchandises and transports corn, soybeans and other commodities, while its Renewables Group produces ethanol and distillers grains at multiple plants in the U.S. The Rail Group provides locomotive leasing, railcar repair and related maintenance services, and the Horticulture Group supplies turf, specialty and horticultural products to landscaping professionals and consumer lawn and garden retailers.

Founded in 1947 and headquartered in Maumee, Ohio, The Andersons has grown from a regional grain elevator operator into an integrated agribusiness platform.